Before getting to the relevant stuff, Vesti decides to take a quick look at the stairs. Unfortunately, Aura, Dustin, and Percy are standing right at the foot of them, so getting over to there would require pushing past them. Percy in particular probably wouldn’t be pleased with Vesti’s attempts to investigate something completely unrelated to the case at hand. Vesti instead decides to briefly reminisce on a day around three years ago that he will never forget…

He had just resolved a particularly difficult case and got back to his apartment late. He quickly went to sleep, but, to his horror, he woke up three hours late for work! He would later learn that this had happened because the plumber who came that day stole his alarm clock, but for the moment, all he cared about was getting to the police station. He tried to take the elevator, but the lady in 7B’s dogs had pooped all over the floor, so he went to the stairwell instead. On the way down, he tripped and tumbled over the railing! Fortunately, someone had left a cart full of used towels on the bottom of the stairwell for some reason, so Vesti survived. But after his near-death experience, Vesti learned an important life-lesson… Always background check your plumbers.

After returning to reality, Vesti turns back to Lita and says, “Alright, Lita. Can I see those case files?” “Of course!” Lita holds out a manila folder with a few papers sticking out of it. Vesti reaches out to grab it, but Lita quickly pulls it away. “Hah! Too slow…” Vesti sighs in annoyance and says, “Okay, this is definitely obstruction of justice…” Lita chuckles and hands over the file without further incident. Vesti looks at the front of folder, which has “The CT-3 Incident” written on it. “Hmm… CT-3…” Vesti mumbles, “I don’t recall hearing that name before…” “That’s no surprise, really…” Lauren Tehra adds, “From my understanding, it was labelled as a suicide pretty quickly…” “Well, now we know that that’s not how it happened…” Vesti says. “Let’s take a closer look…” He opens the folder and pulls out the first page, a typed report marked “Case Overview”

Conclusion: Cammy caused the blackout and was injured while attempting suicide afterwards. While the suicide note (Pg 4) is admittedly somewhat suspicious, no concrete evidence or testimony has been uncovered to suggest that foul play was involved.”

“Yeah, there’s not much on that first page we don’t already know.” Lita says, “There might be more on some of the other pages.” Vesti nods and checks the next page, which lists the patients who were killed in the blackout. None of their names stand out as being recognizable, but Vesti is somewhat surprised to see the blackout victims listed at all. “Wait, so the blackout was part of this case too? I thought it was just about Cammy’s injury…” “I guess they were both included under the same incident name because they were clearly related.” Lauren replies. “Yeah, I suppose…” Vesti mumbles, turning to Page 3. This one has “Injury Report” printed at the top.

“Victim: Cammy Tose. (Age 29)Injury consistent with a fall of over three stories. Victim was rendered comatose by the fall and is currently residing at Gold Clinic.”

“Hmm… No sign she was pushed, then…” Vesti mumbles. Lita replies, “Well, injury reports aren’t usually as thorough as full autopsies, so if the impressions were faint enough, it might not have come up!” “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s see what else is in here…” The next page is a copy of the suicide note. As Vesti suspected, the whole thing was typed, so it could have easily been faked using a computer. The note itself is also fairly terse, consisting of Cammy discussing her guilt for having accidentally caused the blackout and then giving a somewhat heartfelt goodbye to Sammy. Vesti assumes that this note was the main source of Sammy’s skepticism, but it still doesn’t conclusively prove that Cammy was murdered.

Vesti quickly flips through the rest of the folder but doesn’t find anything of interest. The rest of the pages are just lists of evidence or testimonies related to the case, and there isn’t much. Most of what’s there is either something Vesti’s already seen before or something irrelevant. Besides, at this point, he’s distracted by a brilliant plan he just came up with to present his badge to Lita. He discreetly slips his badge out of his pocket and puts it into the case file. Then he hands it back to Lita. “Alright, here you go, Lita. I’ve seen all that I need to see.” “Cool!” Lita says, taking the file… but not opening it. “Yeah, there’s not much in there… but maybe something will be useful.” She holds the folder in front of her and mumbles, “Not sure where I’m gonna put this though…” “Uhh… Maybe you could take another quick look through it while I check out the janitorial cart?” Vesti asks innocently. “Nah, I’m good.” Lita replies, “I guess I’ll just hold onto it for now.” “I can take it,” Lauren says, “There’s probably enough room for it in my evidence bag.” “Oh, thanks, Lauren! Here!” Lita passes the folder to Lauren, who quickly puts it into her bag, with Vesti’s badge still inside. Vesti just stares at Lauren’s badge for a few seconds, thinking about how difficult this one will be to explain. {{CT-3 Case File added to Evidence}}

Examine: Janitorial Cart

Vesti finally walks over to the janitorial cart, which looks pretty much the same as it did back at the crime scene. But once he reaches it, he notices something remarkably different. The mopwater, which used to be more of a muddy brown, is now tinged red. Vesti shouts, “Whoa, what? I- Is that BLOOD?” Aura Gold jots something down on her clipboard, mumbling, “Despite his occupation, subject is frightened of blood.” Then she looks up at Vesti and says, “It certainly seems like it. That’s why I reported this cart to you upon discovering it. Unless someone else at this hospital was injured, I’m sure it must be relevant.” “…Yeah probably.” Vesti says, “I guess since the cart was in Cammy’s hospital room, her blood could have, like, flew into the mopwater during the murder? …Wait, that doesn’t make sense.” “Indeed, it doesn’t…” Lauren says, walking over to the cart. “Step aside. I have another theory.” Vesti gets out of the way as Lauren puts on a pair of rubber gloves. Without hesitation, she reaches into the bloody mopwater and feels around for a bit. Eventually, she pulls something out. Vesti rushes over to get a better look at it. It’s immediately clear what it is: a scalpel, wet with blood.

“Wait, what did you guys just find?” Lita shouts. “…It’s a scalpel.” Lauren answers, “Quite bloody too…” “Hey!” Argenta shouts, “M- Maybe that’s the real murder weapon!” “Wh- What!” Dustin says, “Are you saying someone left their bloody murder weapon in my cart?” “It does seem that way…” Lauren replies, “I can’t tell whether all this blood came from the scalpel stabbing someone, or just from it being dropped in the bloody mopwater…” Lauren reaches into her bag and pulls out a familiar bottle of blue liquid: Luminol testing fluid. “Maybe this will shed some light on that…” After performing a quick test, Lauren says, “Yep… I’m getting a reaction from the tip of this scalpel… It definitely lines up with someone getting stabbed with it…” “That must be it, then!” Lita shouts, “That’s the true murder weapon!” Vesti says, “So, the killer stabbed the victim with that scalpel, but before they could wash it, Dustin showed up… So once he was gone, they grabbed the screwdriver and slashed Cammy’s legs with it to make it look like the murder weapon. Then they washed that and left with the scalpel, leaving it there later…” “It certainly seems like it…” Lauren says, “But speaking of which, I did notice something else from the Luminol test that might be important.” “Oh, really?” Vesti asks, “What is it?” “It’s the bloodstain. It cuts out unnaturally about a quarter of the way down the scalpel’s handle.” Lauren explains, “It’s as if something blocked the blood before it could splatter all the way down the scalpel…” “Hmm… That could be relevant…” Vesti mumbles, “I’ll take note of it…” {{Scalpel added to Evidence}}

“Surely, you all realize what this means… right?” Vesti turns to Percy, the source of the voice. He had been quietly playing his game for the entire investigation, but now he was smiling smugly. Vesti hesitantly replies, “…No, we don’t know what it means. Judging by your confidence, I assume you have some kind of idea?” “Of course I do… and frankly, I’m disappointed in all of you.” Percy adjusts his glasses and says, “You all let the killer lead you around on their little game. And worst of all, you let yourselves believe that you were doing the right thing while they did it… conducting a ‘thorough investigation’… but the truth is, you were walking right into the killer’s trap!” Vesti sighs and mumbles, “This better not be going where I think it is…” “Deny it all you want, but the evidence we just found tells the whole story…” Percy explains, “The one who killed Cammy Tose… was Dustin Panne.” Dustin just blinks for a few seconds and then gives Percy an unreadable look. Eventually, he says, “…Son, you sure you haven’t been staring at those screens for too long?” “I don’t want to hear another word from you.” Percy snaps, “You’ve led this investigation astray for far too long. Now, I’ll expose your deceit once for all!”

Argument: The Abandoned CartPercy: The truth behind this case is actually fairly simple.Percy: The killer used two murder weapons, not to place suspicion upon someone else...Percy: …but to mislead us and make it look like they were framed!Percy: In doing so, they framed Argenta and ensured that they wouldn’t be accused again after we learned the screwdriver was a fake.Percy: Afterwards, they moved their janitorial cart to this stairwell and left the actual murder weapon inside.Percy: Of course, that murder weapon was this scalpel, which they hoped we wouldn’t find.Percy: That’s because its location reveals the killer’s identity: Dustin Panne!PRESS a statement or PRESENT evidence.

(This is just getting ridiculous… Let’s bust apart this argument as quickly as possible…)

“Wait, maybe we’re jumping to conclusion here!” Vesti shouts, “There’s no reason to just assume this scalpel was the murder weapon!” “What are you talking about?” Percy asks, “The scalpel had blood on it, and the victim was stabbed. Doesn’t get much more conclusive than that.” “But we’re in a hospital!” Vesti replies, “It’s not like bloody scalpels would be hard to come by! Someone could have just used that scalpel during a surgery and then dropped it in that bucket without going anywhere near the crime scene!” “Briefly setting aside how illogical that kind of occurrence would be…” Percy mumbles, seemingly focusing more on his game than the conversation now. “That would leave the theft of this cart completely pointless. There was no reason for the killer to move this cart if they weren’t going to hide the murder weapon in it, so they would have just been putting themselves at risk for nothing.” Before Vesti can reply, Argenta Gold adds, “Not only that, but we’re very careful about where our scalpels go after they’ve been used! After a surgery, the surgeons make sure all the bloody implements are sealed up and shipped off to the decontamination room. It’d be pretty hard for anyone to sneak one out!” “It seems pretty much impossible that Cammy wasn’t stabbed with this scalpel,” Lauren Tehra explains, “While I haven’t tested the blood yet, the luminol made it clear that a fairly large amount of blood landed on the handle. If it was simply used in a surgery, there may have been some blood on the handle, but not that much.” “Okay, okay, I get it! The scalpel was the murder weapon!” Vesti shouts, “Does anyone else want to have a go at me?” “I do!” Lita replies, “I think you’ve gained a little weight, Vesti. Maybe you should lay off the burgers!” “While I do agree, we’ve gone totally off-topic now…” Percy says, “Let’s return to my argument.” (Ugh, this is absolutely ridiculous! I haven’t gained a pound all month!)

Present: Stolen Janitor’s Cart: Statement 5

“I know you really want to prove you’ve been right all along, Percy…” Vesti says, “But you really should at least try to think through your accusations first!” “Well, if you have a rebuttal, I hope you’ve thought it through more than I supposedly have.” Percy glares at Vesti and continues, “Remember, I’ll only accept undeniable evidence!” “I’d love to see you deny the evidence I have,” Vesti replies, smiling. “Because the fact of the matter is… when that janitorial cart was stolen, Lauren and I were in the exact same room as Dustin!” Percy slowly lowers his 3DS and stares at Vesti, his expression unreadable. “…Come again?” “We only knew someone had stolen the janitorial cart because we watched it happen on camera. That was when Dustin was showing us the security office. There’s absolutely no way he could have both been there with us and been stealing his own cart on the other side of the building at the same time!” “If you won’t take his word for it, take mine.” Lauren adds, “Like Vesti said, I was there too… and it happened exactly as he told it.” “W- Well… Maybe that was just another one of his tricks!” Percy shouts, sweating. “H- He could have stolen the cart earlier and then faked the security footage so you saw it happen while he had an alibi!” Dustin sighs and replies, “We saw it happen on the live monitors. The footage goes straight from the cameras to them. There’s no way to alter it.” “Well, fine. Then that isn’t what happened. Maybe… maybe… yeah, that’s it.” Percy, attempting to look calm and confident, says, “When you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” Dustin says, “This better not turn out to be as stupid as it sounds.” Percy continues, “If the footage wasn’t faked, then that can only mean one thing… The Dustin Panne the two of you saw was faked! He must have actually been some hobo that Dustin paid off to stand in the security room while dressed up as him! That allowed him to steal the janitorial cart while supposedly having an alibi!” The stairwell goes silent for a moment, and then Lita says, “Wow… Sorry, Dustin, but that was even stupider than it sounded!” “Eh, it’s fine… I’m kinda used to it by now.” Dustin mumbles. “The worst part is that if I recall correctly, Dustin told us his wife’s name when we talked in the security room.” Vesti says, “So not only is that theory completely ridiculous, it’s also impossible.” Percy just glares at everyone for a few seconds and then quietly looks back at his 3DS, furiously tapping at the buttons.

“Anyway, there’s a solution far less ‘improbable’ than that one,” Lauren says, “Simply put, the one who stole the janitorial cart, and therefore the killer, was someone other than Dustin.” “But it seems like we’re just back where we started!” Lita exclaims, “Is there any way to narrow down the killer now that we know they took the cart?” “…It might be possible…” Vesti mumbles, “Here’s how…”

Dang. Thought I made a breakthrough on that one.... is the answer the key ring or Sammy's notes?*wimble-dimble-s cluelessly*

Present: Hospital Scrubs

“There’s a chance we can narrow down the killer by considering the hospital scrubs they were wearing,” Vesti explains, “After all, not everyone had easy access to those…” Lauren asks, “The only people with these scrubs were the doctors, right?” “Exactly…” Percy says, smiling confidently. “And I can already think of someone with both access to those scrubs and quite a convincing motive…” “Don’t jump to conclusions just yet, Percy.” Vesti replies, “If we simply accuse people because they had scrubs in their office, we’d have to interrogate every doctor in this hospital… No, I think it would be more productive to consider who had the best opportunity to use those scrubs…” “‘Opportunity?’ Whaddaya mean by that?” Lita asks. “Well, the killer couldn’t have predicted that Ann Istheesa would have had the cart moved out to where they could reach it… so they may not have been planning to steal the cart from the beginning at all. In that case, someone here would have had a much easier time of stealing the cart than the other suspects… And that person is most likely Cammy’s killer.” “Well? Don’t leave us in suspense…” Dustin replies.

Spoiler: I’d just like to point out that OshaliteX2 is technically the only person to have answered this anywhere near appropriately.

OshaliteX2 wrote:

*wimble-dimbles-s defeatedly*Is it okay if I keep guessing until I get a mental foothold on the case? I mean I get the story and the characters and all but HECk I'm bad at getting stuff right.That said I think it was Aura Gold because nobody has mentioned and/or accused her very much yet.Also because she wasn't on the security footage--are we still even using that?

Planetbox wrote:

If you want you can DM me about details you're uncertain about, and I can try to clear things up.

I will say that you got the right answer to this question. Admittedly not for the reason I was looking for, but no one's gotten it totally right. And someone on the other forum said it was Ray Seppsun, so...

Present: Aura Gold

“Let’s think about it this way,” Vesti explains, “No one could have gotten into the crime scene to steal the cart while Ann Istheesa and the police were working there, and no one could have truly predicted that she would ask for the cart to be moved outside either… At least not to the point that they would have decided to patrol the hallway in hospital scrubs… That means that the killer probably simply saw the cart in the hallway and decided to steal it soon afterwards.” “So… where does that get us?!” Lita shouts, “It still could have been anyone!” “Not necessarily,” Vesti continues, “Think about it… If the killer saw the cart in the hallway, and suddenly decided to put on a disguise and steal it, they would have had to go all the way to their office to get the hospital scrubs, and then head back down to where the cart was.” “Hmm…” Dustin mumbles, “That seems like a lot of effort to go to for a last-ditch attempt to frame me…” “Indeed it would be…” Vesti says, “But what if we cut a step out of that equation… What if when the killer saw the cart in the hallway, they were already wearing their hospital scrubs?” Aura Gold stops writing something on her clipboard and looks up at you. “…What are you saying?” Vesti quickly replies, “The killer was the one who had just performed a surgery and was therefore still wearing their scrubs… In layman’s terms…” Vesti points straight at the suspect and shouts, “The killer was you, Aura Gold!”

Argenta Gold is the first to react. “Wh- What? Vesti, y- you can’t be serious!” Vesti sighs and says, “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I am. Aura simply had the best opportunity to steal the janitorial cart… which makes her the most suspicious.” “B- But… come on!” Argenta shouts, “She wouldn’t do something like this!” “Do not worry yourself, Argenta.” Aura says, sounding calm despite the accusation. “I will take things from here.” She turns back to Vesti and flips through pages on her clipboard. “So, as I understand it, you intend to accuse me of murder… because I performed a surgery that saved a man’s life?” “Well… essentially, yes,” Vesti replies awkwardly. “I’m looking at the facts here. And the point is, after you left that surgery, you would have had those scrubs with you, either on your person or in your hands. Therefore, stealing that cart would have been easy.” “Didn’t you say earlier that any scalpels that were used in surgery would have to be decontaminated?” Percy Graham asks, “Wouldn’t the same idea apply to the scrubs?” “Well, if I’m rememberin’ right…” Dustin mumbles, “Once a surgery was over, the surgeon would get their scrubs decontaminated and then bring them up to their office afterwards… It’s not like it’s a particularly long process…” “So, what? That’s it?” Argenta shouts, “Y- You’re just gonna arrest my sister over something as stupid as that!” “Like I said, Argenta. Do not worry yourself.” Aura replies, “Indeed, his accusations are nothing more than whimsical fancy. Allow me to expose them as such.”

Argument: A Ridiculous NotionAura: So, you intend to pin this crime on me? Well, I’m afraid it’s not going to work.Aura: I was in my office during the entire period before the surgery.Aura: Even if you do not believe me, you cannot prove I ever left.Aura: I am not the criminal here. Dustin Panne is.Aura: He could have held on to his old scrubs all these years...Aura: ...and somehow coerced an accomplice to steal the cart while he was accounted for. Aura: Simply put, you should rethink your logic. You are making a huge mistake here. PRESS a statement or PRESENT evidence.

(Aura’d have to be pretty smart to keep this hospital running for so long, so she might be a tough opponent… Either way, there must be something I can use here.)

Aura's logic doesn't quite line up here - if no-one thought the cart was able to be taken, then Dustin had no reason to hire an accomplice and bring his scrubs. Still, not really the core of the argument so I dunno if that helps.

Oh yeah, the logical inconsistencies there were just me having to rewrite that part of the testimony after discussion in a previous update had totally invalidated what I originally had written there.

Spoiler: Whoopsie daisy

OshaliteX2 wrote:

The fact that I got that right is the biggest twist in this case so far

Press 2 and 3, maybe. All I can think to use as a contradiction is the room ransacking, but that seems to line up with her current argument.

Press: Statement 2

Vesti asks, “And what, exactly, were you doing in your office?” Aura looks back to her clipboard and begins writing furiously, mumbling, “Subject has an unnerving interest in this hospital’s private matters…” “Well, that’s the time frame in which you may have been murdering Cammy,” Vesti replies, “So I have a feeling it might be important!” Aura sighs and responds, “If you must know, I was dealing with paperwork the entire time. I doubt you wish me to go into the excruciating details, but I always spend the majority of my time in the office during an average work day, so it’s hardly unreasonable that I would have spent an hour there today.” “Still, there aren’t any cameras up there…” Vesti responds, “So you can’t conclusively prove that you were actually in that office the entire time!” “Nor can you conclusively prove that I ever left,” Aura says, “And I’m not the one making the accusations here. You are.” Percy Graham adds, “Simply put, there’s no evidence that Aura was even at the scene of the crime. The camera footage provided conclusive evidence that Argenta and Dustin had an opportunity to kill the victim, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for you…” (If I’m going to get anywhere with this, I need to find proof that Aura was at the crime scene… or, at the very least, evidence that Aura wasn’t in her office the entire time like she claims…)

Present: Room Ransacking: Statement 3

Coming to a sudden realization, Vesti shouts, “Wait! There’s no way you could have spent that entire hour in your office!” “Really?” Aura asks, “And how can you be so certain of that? Like I said, without camera footage, there’s no evidence that I ever left.” Vesti replies, “There may not be evidence, but there is a witness whose testimony can prove if you were really in that office!” “And who would that be?” Aura says, “I’ll admit that no one ever saw me in the office, but I wouldn’t consider that fact conclusive.” “Well, this witness may have not seen you in the office, which is definitely conclusive.” Vesti points and shouts, “And the person I’m talking about… is Sammy Tose!” “Huh?” Sammy responds, “What do I have to do with this?” Vesti explains, “After visiting Cammy’s hospital room, you went to Aura’s room to do some investigating with the help of the key ring you’d stolen earlier. This eventually led to you searching Aura Gold’s room, right?” Sammy replies, “Yeah… I had to go at that time since it was my only chance.” “Well, I have a question for you, Sammy.” Vesti says, “Was Aura Gold actually in the room when you searched it?” “Of course not…” Sammy replies, “I wouldn’t have gone in otherwise…” “Hmm… That’s interesting…” Vesti mumbles, “So, during the time period in which Aura was supposedly doing paperwork in her office, Sammy arrived and, discovering it to be empty, stuck around to search it for a little while… I think it’s fairly obvious what that means!” “W- Well,” Argenta says, “M- Maybe Aura just left to use the bathroom for a little while!” “Nah, I kinda doubt it,” Sammy interjects, “I made it to the office after she left and spent a good few minutes in there, but I didn’t see any sign of her.” “In that case…” Vesti continues, “Aura, would you mind explaining to us exactly what you were actually doing during the hour in which the murder occurred?” Aura shakes her head in disappointment and says, “Must I remind you whose testimony you’re relying on here? I’m not changing my story. I was in that office the entire time. This man’s testimony simply cannot be trusted…”

Argument: A Suspicious TestimonyAura: Considering that he illegally infiltrated our hospital numerous times...Aura: ...you seem to be choosing to trust Mr. Tose’s words rather quickly.Aura: Perhaps he is merely pinning the blame on me to save his own skin?Aura: If he was on the top floor, he could have murdered Cammy himself...Aura: ...and then quickly ransacked my room after I left to give himself an alibi.Aura: He also could have stolen that janitor’s cart himself…Aura: ...as yet another means of misdirection.PRESS a statement or PRESENT evidence.

(I doubt Sammy could have committed this murder, but as long as he remains a suspect, I can’t really use his words as evidence. I may need to use logic to combat this testimony, rather than concrete proof…)

I thought the ransacking wasn't a contradiction because Aura was doing surgery at some point and so said that's when the ransacking must have occurred. But I suppose the point is Sammy did it much earlier than that, as we know when he left Cammy's room?

Is it a logic problem to point out the issue with dressing up to steal a cart you didn't even know was stealable? Our reason for suspecting Aura in the first place was that no-one knew the cart would be out in the hall, ready to be taken. So only a doctor had reason to be wandering around in scrubs already at the time. Though I guess Dustin had this issue too.

The surgery happened at about the same time as the body discovery and initial investigation. Theoretically, Sammy could have done it during this time, but that leaves him unaccounted for for a fairly long amount of time. The main point of the last contradiction was that Aura couldn’t have been in the office while Sammy was there, and then Sammy claimed that he ransacked the office during the hour in which he wasn’t seen.

Spoiler: Confession time this is like the worst argument in the case sorry guys. Also it being late probably doesn’t help.

OshaliteX2 wrote:

Uhhhhh security footage at 4? Sammy leaves way too quickly, probably, to ransack anyone's room--BUT I may be looking at the wrong time. I probably am. Oops.

Press: Statement 5

“Wait,” Vesti shouts, “We busted Sammy for breaking and entering, not for murder!” “What makes you think he couldn’t have done both?” Aura asks. “He didn’t even have to ransack my office, he could have simply thrown random things around the room to make it look as if he had.” “That is true,” Percy adds, “Making it look like he was searching the office would have given him a quick alibi at the very least…” Vesti responds, “But would he really have time to murder the victim and then go back to Aura’s office to make a mess of it?” “I imagine he would have,” Aura replies, “If we go by the assumption that the murderer left the crime scene by climbing up the back of the sign, they would have been right there on the fifth floor before I left for my surgery. All it would have taken was a quick stop at my office to make it look like Sammy had been there.” “But wait!” Lita shouts, “Why would he have left the hospital room so early then? And where would he go afterwards if he wasn’t trying to search your office?!” “I can’t claim to understand all of the suspect’s actions…” Aura replies, “But it’s hardly my job to. I am simply a doctor, not a detective.” “Maybe he was gathering materials that would be essential to the murder?” Percy says, “Since he didn’t work here, it would have been harder for him to come by, say, the scalpel, which he needed for his plot.” “Or maybe I was just searching the director’s room…” Sammy mumbles irritably. “You know, like I said I was…” Ignoring him, Percy continues, “Either way, the possibility that he committed this murder certainly exists. And with that in mind, it wouldn’t be wise to trust his word. He could simply be throwing suspicion on Aura to avoid it himself.” “Or maybe…” Sammy adds, “I’m telling the truth to try to help you all solve this murder…” (This doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere… Let’s focus on something else for now.)

Press: Statement 6

Vesti asks, “But wait, where would Sammy have gotten the scrubs from? Only doctors have access to them!” “That’s simply because they’re usually kept in the doctors’ offices.” Aura explains, “I don’t think I need to remind you that Mr. Tose has already admitted to breaking into my office, so he could have easily stolen the hospital scrubs then…” Percy adds, “Depending on how late he pretended to search Aura’s office, that could line up well with the time at which the cart was stolen, too…” “Wait wait wait...” Vesti interjects, “Didn’t we already establish that the culprit had no way of knowing the cart would even be stealable? Sammy would have had no reason to take the scrubs with him!” “Oh yeah, that’s right!” Lita shouts, “That’s the main reason it seems like it was Aura Gold, isn’t it? Cause she already had her hospital scrubs with her!” “Again, that is hardly conclusive. It is simply the most convenient solution.” Aura replies, though she seems to be looking somewhat nervous. “There are other possibilities… For example, perhaps Sammy chose to disguise himself before he left, in case someone was waiting outside. Or perhaps he hoped to plant the scrubs somewhere to frame me for the murder.” “Or perhaps I wanted to wear the scrubs to a rave!” Sammy shouts. “The possibilities are simply endless when you don’t care about what actually happened!” Aura resumes writing on her clipboard, mumbling, “Subject tends to use sarcasm to mask his guilt.” “Wait!” Vesti shouts, “He couldn’t have stolen your scrubs when he ransacked the office! You were wearing them!” “Oh… Right.” Aura says, seemingly somewhat taken aback. She slowly continues, “W- Well, perhaps he quickly slipped into an office to take a pair.” “No, don’t even try that one!” Vesti replies, “Your explanations for Sammy taking the scrubs are way too flimsy to justify him going into a completely different office to steal them! Sure, it’s possible he could have, but it’s so unlikely that it’s barely even worth considering!” Dustin Panne adds, “Honestly, I’m more inclined to just believe the word of a guy who broke into an office with my keys than whatever all that rubbish was…” “Well, the theft of that cart is hardly the main point of my argument,” Aura replies, “Even if he didn’t steal it, he could have still committed the murder itself.” “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Lita shouts, “Didn’t we decide a while ago that the one who stole the janitor’s cart must have been the murderer?!” “It’s alright…” Vesti says, “She wants me to prove that Sammy couldn’t have killed the victim, so I guess that’s what I’ll have to do.” (A good accusation usually requires means, motive, and opportunity… Is there one of these that Sammy doesn’t have?)

Argument: A Suspicious TestimonyAura: Considering that he illegally infiltrated our hospital numerous times...Aura: ...you seem to be choosing to trust Mr. Tose’s words rather quickly.Aura: Perhaps he is merely pinning the blame on me to save his own skin?Aura: If he was on the top floor, he could have murdered Cammy himself...Aura: ...and then quickly ransacked my room after I left to give himself an alibi.Aura: He also could have stolen that janitor’s cart himself…Aura: ...as yet another means of misdirection.PRESS a statement or PRESENT evidence.

(I doubt Sammy could have committed this murder, but as long as he remains a suspect, I can’t really use his words as evidence. I may need to use logic to combat this testimony, rather than concrete proof...)

Vesti explains, “I will admit that it’s possible that Sammy could have killed Cammy… but I seriously doubt he would have.” “And what makes you think that?” Aura asks, “Do you have any evidence to back up that claim?” “No, I don’t have anything except this photograph…” Vesti says, pulling out the photo of the couple together. “But I don’t think I need evidence either… The fact is, Sammy simply doesn’t have a motive.” “Of course I don’t,” Sammy says, “I’ve already spoken at length on that subject.” “Well, we can’t necessarily be certain of that…” Aura responds, “It’s not too unreasonable that a husband would kill their wife… I’ve seen the results of such affairs myself a few times.” “Oh, don’t you start…” Sammy mumbles. “I’m really not seeing anything like that from the two of them. It sounds like they had a very good relationship.” Vesti continues, “I mean, Sammy visited his wife almost every day, and even broke the law just to find out what happened to her. That doesn’t really line up with a case like that!” “Not to mention,” Lauren adds, “We’ve been going under the assumption that Cammy was murdered to keep her from talking about the incident in which she was injured five years ago. Sammy wasn’t even in the building back then, so there was absolutely no reason for him to wait this long to commit the murder.” “Y- Yeah…” Argenta says, “Even I have to admit that this doesn’t really make much sense…” “Factoring in the whole deal with my janitor’s cart, accusing this guy is just completely ridiculous…” Dustin mumbles. “Honestly, I would be inclined to agree.” Percy says, “Aura do you have anything to say about this?”

Aura didn’t respond. She just silently wrote something on her clipboard, looking nervous. Eventually, Vesti said, “If you won’t say anything, then I suppose I will. Here’s what I think happened. You somehow discovered that Cammy had awoken from her coma, perhaps simply because Argenta told you. Deciding that she had to be silenced, you left your office around 7:35, taking a scalpel with you. You made your way to the storage closet, unlocked the door with your keys, and then climbed down into Cammy’s room using the back of the hospital sign, thereby avoiding the security cameras. Then you quickly stabbed Cammy with the scalpel, knocking over the stool and the bedsheets in the ensuing struggle. But before you could wash the weapon and escape, you heard Dustin approaching thanks to the wheels on his janitor’s cart, forcing you to push the rest of the sheets onto the floor and hide under the bed. Then, once he was gone, you decided to frame him. So you took one of his screwdrivers and got the victim’s blood on it by slashing her legs. Then you washed it and returned it to Dustin’s cart, which you later stole to hide the original murder weapon in. And in doing so, you gave away your identity as the killer…” Vesti points and says, “So, what do you have to say about that, Aura Gold?!”

Eventually, Aura Gold let out a sigh and returned to writing on her clipboard. “Subject is quick to make well-constructed, but meaningless, accusations…” “‘Meaningless?’” Vesti asks, “What are you talking about?” “All of that was simple conjecture,” Aura explains, “You cannot back it up with a single piece of evidence. Anyone on the fifth floor of this building and quite a few people on the lower floors could have committed this murder in the way you outlined. Therefore, it’s worthless.” “But you’re the only one who could have stolen that cart!” Vesti says. “Th- That doesn’t mean she killed anyone!” Argenta shouts, “M- Maybe the killer dropped the scalpel into the cart while it was in the hallway… and then Aura found it and tried to hide it from them!” “Just when I thought this thing couldn’t get any more ridiculous…” Sammy mumbles. “Well, either way, it doesn’t really matter…” Lita adds, “Her stealing the janitor’s cart is suspicious, sure… but it’s not really proof that she killed anyone.” “Perhaps we should focus on a new avenue of discussion, then…” Vesti says.

I'm just gonna stop you guys right there cause I totally meant to include the syringe in that second paragraph but I just forgot. Vesti would have said that it was used to give Cammy anesthesia so no one would know she woke up.

The first is Dustin's spare keys being stolen. Not sure if they're relevant but they could actually be stolen by Aura somehow. Another is the window and gutter in Aura's office. Could she have used that somehow?

While the scalpel hasn't been discussed, it isn't the answer I was looking for. I was looking for something more broad than that.

Normally I'd just go on forward anyway because this question is kinda dumb, but I don't think I'll have time to update today or this weekend, so I'll just give you people the chance to get the right answer instead, I guess.

“Obviously, we’re not making any progress by discussing this particular incident,” Vesti says, “So perhaps we should instead focus on another incident that was most likely committed by the culprit of this one.” “You’re talking about Cammy’s attempted murder, aren’t you?” Lauren asks. “Exactly,” Vesti replies, “In fact, Lita and I were discussing that case earlier, before we caught Sammy. I think we should pick up where we left off and see where it takes us.” “So we’re gonna bring back some sibling power, huh?” Lita says, “Sounds like a great idea!” “Is it really necessary to dredge up that old affair?” Aura asks, “It wasn’t exactly a pleasant time in this clinic’s history. I’d rather allow the past to remain in the past…” “Sorry, but I intend to find the truth of this murder, no matter what I have to dredge up!” Vesti turns to Lita and asks, “So, where did we get to last time?” Lita answers, “Well, we know that Cammy couldn’t have been pushed out of the window of the 4th floor because of the flowerbox… so we need to figure out where she was actually pushed from!” “Well then, take it away, sis!” Vesti says. Lita does a quick fist pump and says, “Gladly!”

Argument: A Discussion One Hour in the Making!Lita: Well, we know that Cammy wasn’t pushed through her office window. Lita: So in order to land where she did, she had to come from another room above or below that one!Lita: But there are four others floors plus a roof to choose from… Lita: Admittedly, if she was pushed off the roof someone probably would have seen her up there. Lita: And I don’t think getting shoved out of a first story window would cause much beyond a few bruises. Lita: So… the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th floors are all possibilities!PRESS a statement or PRESENT evidence.

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